THERE'S WEED IN THEM THAR HILLS

It's getting to be harvest time for one of Virginia's big cash crops. Not
talking sorghum here. I'm speaking, of course, about marijuana. There was a
picture in the paper this week of police displaying almost 200 confiscated
plants. Where from? From all over Carroll County, including my little Dugspur.

Dugspur isn't the pot capital of Southwest Virginia by any means, but
anywhere there are large expanses of undeveloped rural land, there's gonna
be some illegal weed cultivation. Every so often the state and federal
authorities make a successful sweep of the backwoods.

I have heard tales about local farmers of yesteryear growing industrial
hemp for rope cordage. I presumed this was during WWII when the government
encouraged farmers to plant hemp to make up for the embargo of Manila hemp.
I sent a note to the local extension service inquiring if any hemp crops
were grown here during the war. I never received a reply. I'll take that as
a "no."

Granted, some old-timers were prone to smoke just about anything when their
cans of Prince Albert ran out. Rabbit tobacco and corn silk are two
examples. But that was more for convenience than euphoria. None that I know
admits to partaking of the evil weed.

One year we were planting peppers on a chunk of bottom land when a
helicopter appeared. Apparently it was the police looking for errant pot
farmers.

I told a co-worker, "Wanna have some fun? Let's everyone make a sudden
break for the woods!" I figured once the cops showed up and realized it was
all a joke they would get a big laugh and maybe even help us plant the peppers.

Luckily, there were people there who saved me from my own stupidity.

Last spring a friend mentioned something to me in hushed tones. He told me
that on the road up to the family resort there were many thin, stalky weeds
with five jagged leaves. It was as though he was saying, "I know it's
yours, but I won't tell." Turns out those

five-leaf stalks were young buckeye trees. The creeks around here are
absolutely littered with them. I suppose from a distance they might arouse
suspicion.

Young buckeye trees aren't the only doppelgangers for wacky weed. Several
native plants resemble marijuana. Swamp hibiscus is one. Run into a crop of
this on some creek bank and you'll start looking for trip wires. Neophyte
druggies have probably dried and smoked this stuff thinking it was the real
thing.

Rowel root: Have no idea what the real name is. It's a rare, wild plant
that old farmers used for treating certain infections in cattle. I saw some
of this growing in my yard one day and thought "E ke! It's a frame-up!"
Fortunately someone clued me in before I brought out the shovel. It's
probably an endangered species.

Back in the '70s there were reports of entrepreneurial hopheads who
traveled the local creeks on canoe, tossing out hemp seeds in hopes some
would take root. In the fall, they'd make a pre-frost trip down the stream,
dreaming of finding a clandestine harvest. Those dudes must have been
tripping from the onset. They obviously planted buckeye seeds by mistake.

TODD JENNINGS lives in Dugspur and is a waste water technician. His work
and that of other regional columnists can be seen at roanoke.com.